For the new player, or someone who is not used to gaming in general, some of the terms used at Knight Realms can be confusing. While many of them are explained in the Rulebook, a quick summary is provided below to get you up to speed.
- PC - Player Character. The fictional person that a player of the game portrays and plays the part of, while at Knight Realms. Sometimes also called a "Toon" as slang from online games, where PCs have a cartoon like apperance.
- Alt - A PC that is not the player's main PC, and is played less frequently, or is lesser in power.
- NPC - Non-Player Character. Characters that are present in the game to challenge, interact with, and entertain the PCs (and their players). NPCs are a part of the game world, and are not completely under the will of their player - plot, or the directive to challenge the PCs, may direct their actions. Sometimes called a "Mob" in online slang.
- PvP - Player versus Player. When two PCs, both controlled by paying players / customers, engage in conflict. PvP can be a sensitive subject because there is no balance built into the conflict by plot or the game system - a powerful PC is free to engage in PvP with a weaker one, where an NPC will usually be balanced to provide a challenge, but not be too easy or too difficult to defeat (and thus making the game less fun). PvP is allowed at Knight Realms, with certain guidelines applied to it (Please see the Policies & Statements section for further details).
- Build - Points earned and spent to advance your PC, and make them more powerful. May also be referred to as Experiecne Points or XP in other games.
- Service Points (SP) - Points earned for donating time and / or effort to Knight Realms. SP may be spent in a variety of ways, including converting it to Build on a limited basis, or purchasing Fates as temporary bonuses for your PC.
- Role-Playing Points - Points earned for good acting and role-playing as your PC or an NPC. Earning 10 RP Points grants you a free build.
- Boffer Weapon - a weapon made of foam, usually with a PVC or fiberglass core, and covered in duct tape. Boffer weapons (or "boffers" for short) are meant to be safe for light-tough combat, and can be made easily and inexpensively.
- PhysRep - short for "Physical Representation" of an object in the game, as opposed to the item card that represents it. While the card is the rules portion of the item, describing the properties of the item, the physrep is used either in combat or role-play. An item card MUST be with a physrep to be used - using a physrep without the item card is breaking the rules.
- Spell Packet - a small beanbag used to represent a spell, prayer, or other supernatural effect, or possibly a dart or alchemy compound. They are thrown at a target to represent the casing of an effect, to determine if it hits its target.
- In-Game - actions that take place within the fictional world of Knight Realms. For example, Lord Antrim slaying a zombie is an In-Game action - the player did not literally kill a walking corpse in the real world. Because the point of Knight Realms is to provide as immersive an experience as possible, a great deal of effort and emphasis is placed on making sure things are kept In-Game, and not Out-Of-Game (see below).
- Out-Of-Game - things in the real world, as opposed to things that are In-Game. Cell phones, computers, and cars are all Out-Of-Game. Knowledge can also be OOG - the knowledge that your friend is playing a Wild Mage may be OOG knowledge to you, but your PC may not know it (That is IG knowledge), and will need to learn about it through in-game means.
- Metagaming - The act of using OOG knowledge IG. For example, if Jon knows Sam is playing a Wild Mage, but Jon's PC has no way of knowing this fact, but still acts upon this knowledge, this is metagaming. Metagaming is usually frowned upon, and often violates the rules of the game, because it lessens the immersion of the game, and can become cheating if taken too far.
- F.O.I.G. - Find Out In Game - a phrased used to prevent metagaming. If someone asks a question OOG that should be found out IG, the common resposne is "F.O.I.G.". For example, asking "Who here plays an evil PC?" will get a response of "F.O.I.G!" since answering it will ruin the game for people who are playing them, and may be in hiding. Sometimes, information about the game world that is mysterious or secretive will also get this response, as finding it out through Role-Playing is much more fun that being told OOG, and maintains the immersion of the game.
- Body Points - A measure of how healthy and tough a creature is. The more Body points they have, the harder they are to kill.
- Career Points - A measure of how powerful a character is in a specific art, such as magic or alchemy production. This term covers any points used by a PC (other than Body), such as Magic Points, Faith Points, Druid Points, Crafting Points, Production Points, etc.
- Period - A length of time at an event, usually from 6 AM to 6 PM, or vice versa. A typical weekend event is 4 periods long, coverinf Friday night, Saturday Day, Saturday Night, and Sunday Day. Smaller events, such as one-day festivals, are usually only one period long. Periods determine how long some effects will last (i.e. - until the end of the period), or how often some skills can be used (i.e. - once a period).
- Area Note - an OOG note that describes an IG area. A cabin that has an IG protection of some sort on it, such as a spell or trap, must note this on its Area Note to let players know it exists. Similarly, someone entering the area IG must read the note and abide by its rules OOG.
- Marshal - An authority at the Knight Realms game, over one or more areas of the game. Different kinds of Marshals inclued Rules, Role-Playing, and Monster Marshals. A complete description of their roles and responsibilities can be found in the Staff section of the website. Players are discouraged from answering questions about the game, unless they are a Marshal of the appropriate subject, to prevent misinformation from being spread.
